Onion Breath
by mandaree1
Summary: Mikayla gives Tulip a piece of her mind.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Infinity Train!**

**Title: Onion Breath**

**Summary: Mikayla gives Tulip a piece of her mind.**

**...**

You hear it from the group chat first. The group chat made for this particular reason. The group chat specifically named **#FindTulipOlsen2019.** Gus from two blocks over posts a quick video of the reunion; a shimmer of red hair, wide spectacles crushed awkwardly in the tight grip she was surrounded in, the exact same jacket she'd been wearing the last time you saw her still looking fairly good, all things considered.

"We did it, ya'll," Gus says, which is absolute _bullcrap_. What did you do? Trudge around in the snow? Dig through drifts? Watch endless news stories? Cry yourself to sleep a few too many nights? "She's home. Tulip's home."

You log out.

You grab your phone.

And you head out to give Tulip Olsen a piece of your dang mind.

"Hello, Mikayla," Ms. Olsen says after you slam your hand into the door a few too many times. Somehow it's weirder that she's the one answering her own door instead of Tulip. "She's in her room."

Ms. Olsen leads you inside, giving you a quick shoulder squeeze. You see Mr. Olsen sitting on the couch. He awkwardly waves at you. You don't pretend to know how hard this has been on their already strained relationship, so you ignore the thick tension and head directly up the stairs. You've been to their house enough times to know where everything is.

You've been here enough times to know that the wide open door is new, and oddly intimidating, and as you poke your head inside you find the visage of your friend calmly examining some old posters on her wall. She's ditched her jacket by now, opting for a big gray shirt with a floppy disk you're eight-five percent sure is her dad's and a pair of shorts. She looks weirdly frail after seeing nothing but posed photos for so long. Spindly limbs and disheveled red hair. It's breathtaking.

It's infuriating.

"So," you say, "you're alive."

Tulip's shoulders twitch. She turns her head slightly. "Oh, hey. I thought I heard footsteps."

And, god, isn't that even worse? That she doesn't even seem surprised? Or traumatized? She's just _standing there_, looking at the same boring posters with that same voice like nothing is wrong and_ everything is wrong_ and why do you wanna cry and punch her and hug her all at the same time. "Girl, I'm gonna kill you."

"Missed you too," she replies, with just a hint of a smile. "Wanna sit? I mean, I dunno how gross these sheets are, but they seem sitting worthy."

You do, awkwardly. You looks everywhere and nowhere all at the same time. The room is basically the same as it was last time you were there. There's a fine layer of dust on most everything. Except the window. There's a shiny new lock on that.

Tulip, sitting down next to you, follows your eyes. "Oh, yeah. That."

"That."

"It's a lock."

"I see that. Is it legal to do that? I mean, I thought you were renting."

"Probably? It's a safety thing." Tulip drums her fingers on her knees. "They thought I got kidnapped or something. So. You know. Don't wanna give anyone the chance to break in again."

"But you weren't."

"I was not," she agrees, after a pause.

"They caught someone who was," you go on; as if you need to explain this, right? "State or two over. There was... there was a redhead." The weight of those words makes your hand shake and your eyes swim. You hate that. She's right here. It should be okay now. "I thought we were gonna find you dead, Tulip."

Tulip tilts her head to the side, considers, and nods. "Yeah, that's fair."

"None of this is fair!" You give her a solid shove. "I joined search parties! I put up posters! I _cried_, Tulip. I was so sure that if we _did_ find you, it'd be a body in some ditch somewhere!" Something relatively like a scoff rips free from your throat. "You didn't even say goodbye."

"I was a bad friend."

"You were the _worst_ friend."

Tulip lets out a long sigh and leans on you. The contact feels weirdly intimate- it's still hard to believe she's here, and alive, and this isn't some weird dream of angels or ghosts or whatever. "I've been... going through a thing. And I'm not good at dealing with things. And I didn't want _you_ to know that I'm bad at dealing with things."

"Tulip, everyone knows you're bad at dealing with things."

Tulip chuckles. "Yeah, I get that now. And you're right. I should've said _something_."

She's being so reasonable and mature about this, it makes you want to slug her more. Where does Tulip Olsen get off, acting like she's anything _but_ a mess of emotions and vague gestures wrapped in a trench coat? "Where did... where did you go?"

"Hopped a train."

"I'm being serious."

"So am I. I went train-hopping."

"That's so... _boring_."

"You'd be surprised," she says. "I got arrested for identity fraud. Well, sort of? It was complicated. And don't get me started on the roaches."

**Author's Note: Infinity Train was sooooo good, I just had to write something for it!**

**-Mandaree1**


End file.
